These SPU cartridges embodies the essence of the original Moving Coils and are a perfect solution for the playback of both early and modern and contemporary stereo recordings. Excellent price-to-performance ratio.

GOLDENES OHR AWARD 2018

The readers of the German HiFi magazine STEREOPLAY voted for the best Hifi products of the year. With votes coming in from across Germany, the SPU #1S won in the category phono cartridges. Almost 150 industry members attended the Award ceremony in Munich.

Review quote SPU #1

Stereophile September 2016By Michael Fremer

"...To this day, Ortofon SPU cartridges enjoy cult followings in Japan and elsewhere. ...There are many variants of the basic, iconic SPU design, but most are highmass, low-output, heavy trackers known for their old-school warmth and musicality...

...when I played my first record with the SPU #1... I immediately, and much to my surprise got what the SPU cult is all about. Most of what seemed to be missing were playback artifacts that ride along with the detail, along with the "visual" elements that help produce spatial context, including reverberant trails, initial transients, decay elements, etc. What was left were vivid, generously sezed, richly drawn aural images laden with textures and harmonic vitality. Whether you hear this as thick and slow or as a rich and full is a matter of sonic perspective...

...I've got plenty of mono and vintage stereo LPs. I spent a few days playing them through these SPUs (SPU #1 S or SPU #1 E - red.), and they all just sounded right and "of a time"...

...If you're considering buying one of these (SPU #1 S or SPU #1 E - red.) - and assuming you have a compatible tonearm, in terms of both the SME collet and a medium to high effective mass - I suggest using a tubed phono preamplifier and a loading of less than 100 ohms. Unloaded, the new Ortofon SPUs could sound bright on top; that, in combination with their rich, full bottoms, produced an unpleasant discontinuity of sound.

I'm still not thrilled to track stereo LPs at 4 g - but the sound was so rich, warm, flowing, and relaxing, the images so round and so generously sized, that I conquered my fears of worn record grooves and spent many pleasant evenings drinking wine and visiting the 1950s and '60s. If only I knew then what I know now!"